1.2 billion dollars "out of ammunition," what projects has 10T Holdings invested in?

Author: Zen, PANews

Under the bear market, venture capital interest in cryptocurrencies has significantly slowed down. The well-known crypto investment firm 10T Holdings, which manages three funds, is currently "out of ammunition." This institution, managing $1.2 billion in assets, can only wait for the next bull market or further openings for IPOs of crypto institutions. Meanwhile, the two founders behind it are raising funds for their newly launched funds and will continue to focus on the crypto industry.

The name 10T comes from founder Dan Tapiero's expectations for the crypto industry. In 2019, he predicted that the total market value of cryptocurrencies would grow 30 times and eventually reach $10 trillion, which is why he named his cryptocurrency investment fund 10T. Unlike other digital asset funds like Paradigm, 10T focuses on investing in companies within the mid-to-late stage of the digital asset ecosystem. In his view, many venture funds provide financing for seed and early-stage companies, but there are almost none dedicated to providing late-stage funding and liquidity. 10T directly provides liquidity to early funds and investors looking to gain some chips from early investments, so as the "white knights" for early investors, 10T has undoubtedly chosen the "Hard" mode for itself.

Since launching its first fund at the beginning of 2021, 10T Holdings has had three funds, managing $1.2 billion in assets. Through primary and secondary markets, 10T invests in mature companies operating at scale, with its portfolio largely consisting of well-known companies and projects in the crypto industry, such as Ledger, Kraken, eToro, Yuga Labs, Helium developer Nova Labs, Deribit, and Animoca Brands.

Core Team of 10T Holdings

As a long-time advocate for gold and Bitcoin, renowned investor Dan Tapiero has 30 years of experience in macro and commodity investment and trading, research, economics, and entrepreneurship. He is the core of 10T Holdings, serving as managing partner, CEO, and CIO. Tapiero has extensive relationships in institutional investment management. Before founding 10T, he established the global macro investment fund DTAP Capital Advisors in 2003 and later founded the physical precious metals platform Gold Bullion International (GBI) in 2014. The core similarities between Bitcoin theory and physical gold helped him recognize the potential for growth in the digital asset ecosystem.

In 2013, Dan Tapiero began to pay attention to Bitcoin, but initially sold it due to its small market cap and the notion of being "a toy for venture capital." As the cryptocurrency field developed, he realized he had overlooked Bitcoin's value, and his perspective shifted to believing it could become a financial system, becoming a staunch supporter and evangelist.

In February 2021, Tapiero launched a $200 million fund, marking the official start of 10T's investments in the crypto industry. By September of the same year, the two funds under 10T, 10T Fund and 10T DAE Expansion Fund, had collectively secured nearly $389 million in capital commitments. Including co-investments and secondary advisory, 10T raised nearly $750 million in total for its strategy. By the end of the year, 10T launched a third digital asset investment fund intending to raise $500 million, but the actual amount completed was not publicly disclosed. 10T's investors include a diverse group of asset allocators, including high-net-worth individuals, public pension plans, endowment funds, foundations, and family offices, such as the Michigan Municipal Employees Retirement System and Alan Howard.

Stan Miroshnik is a partner and co-founder of 10T, with nearly 20 years of experience in investment banking, corporate finance, and venture capital, during which he has built deep global relationships with entrepreneurs, companies, regulators, fintech, and blockchain investors in the digital asset ecosystem. Stan focuses on fintech and digital assets and is a prolific early-stage investor, having served as an advisor and board member for several early-stage companies. He has held positions as managing director at Element / Actual Group, an investment bank focused on digital assets, and as CEO of The Argon Group, a digital financial investment bank specializing in crypto capital markets.

In addition to Dan and Stan, several other partners at 10T also have rich experience and networks in the investment field. Eric Vincent is a partner and president at 10T, with over 25 years of experience in creating, developing, and managing alternative asset management companies. Before joining 10T, Eric was the head of business development at Mubadala Capital, the alternative investment arm of the UAE's Mubadala Investment Company. Joe Majocha is a partner and CFO at 10T, having previously served as managing director at Two Sigma Investments and as COO and CFO of Two Sigma's private investment division. Additionally, 10T's partner and vice chairman Michael J. Dubilier entered the investment field in 1983, with over 30 years of experience in private equity and direct investments in industrial, consumer, and technology companies, as well as entrepreneurship.

10T has Deployed All Funds, and the Two Founders Have Established Their Own Firms This Year

Earlier this year, 10T underwent quiet internal changes. In February, Tapiero stated in an interview with The Block that 10T would no longer pursue any further fundraising or launch new 10T funds. The two founders chose to "go their separate ways," each establishing new funds. According to LinkedIn information, Tapiero and Miroshnik each founded investment firms in January of this year but still retained their positions at 10T. According to a Bloomberg report in May, anonymous sources indicated that 10T Holdings had deployed all the funds it had previously raised. Thus, 10T faces the dilemma of "having no rice to cook," and can only focus on post-investment work for its previous investments while waiting for exits.

According to The Block in February, Tapiero stated he is establishing his private equity firm, 1RoundTable Partners (abbreviated as "1RT"), aiming to raise $1 billion by the end of the third quarter, currently supported by well-known investors like Alan Howard, known as the "macro god."

As an evolution and continuation of 10T Holdings' investment strategy, the core team of 1RT is largely composed of members from 10T. Tapiero invited 10T partners Michael Dubilier and Eric Vincent to join, and Joe Majocha continues to serve as CFO at 1Roundtable. Additionally, Tapiero recruited former Sotheby's CEO Tad Smith as a consulting partner. In terms of investment strategy, 1RT remains focused on supporting mid-to-late stage digital asset companies with "significant price appreciation potential" over the next 5 to 10 years. According to relevant materials, 1RT's flagship fund will have a 5-year investment period and a 10-year fund duration, with investment focuses roughly divided into three categories: the new era digital asset ecosystem, digital asset ecosystem infrastructure, and metaverse categories, including companies focused on NFTs.

Another founder of 10T, Stan Miroshnik, has also established his own firm. In May of this year, a new venture capital company focused on cryptocurrencies, TenSquared Capital (abbreviated as "10SQ"), was reported by Bloomberg to be seeking to raise $200 million. According to internal documents reviewed by Bloomberg, Stan Miroshnik serves as CEO and managing partner at 10SQ, with several former 10T executives joining him. Unlike 10T's focus on mid-to-late stage projects, 10SQ, led by Stan Miroshnik, who excels in early-stage investments, intends to support crypto projects at all stages through equity investments. Based on the funds raised, 10SQ has already made two investments, including a startup focused on crypto wallet infrastructure.

Investing in Star Projects, Optimistic About Crypto Companies' IPOs

10T focuses on investing in mid-to-late stage projects within the digital asset ecosystem, with relatively large funding sizes for the rounds it participates in. For example, this year, 10T has publicly led three projects, the smallest of which was Blockworks' $12 million announced in May, while QuickNode and AI Metaverse received $60 million and $54 million, respectively.

Most of the projects 10T invests in are well-developed and have considerable recognition within the industry. Companies in its portfolio, such as Circle, eToro, and Kraken, have been preparing for IPOs in recent years, and 10T also aims to exit through initial public offerings (IPOs). However, due to the impact of the cryptocurrency bear market and obstacles from strict regulatory scrutiny, these companies have not yet successfully gone public. Nevertheless, Tapiero remains optimistic about the prospects for cryptocurrency companies to go public, believing that the second half of 2024 and 2025 could be a good time, predicting that some cryptocurrency companies will go public by then.

Metaverse & NFT

• Animoca Brands: A giant in metaverse gaming and venture capital.
• Candy Digital: A digital collectibles development company, the official digital collectibles partner of Major League Baseball, Netflix, WWE, Getty Images, and Race Team Alliance.
• Doodles: A community-driven NFT brand.
• Futureverse: An AI metaverse startup that integrates 11 metaverse infrastructure and content companies into a collaborative ecosystem, providing the basic components for building metaverse applications.
• Yuga Labs: The developer of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), also owning CryptoPunks and Meebits IP.

Infrastructure & Tools

• Bitfury: A blockchain infrastructure provider that develops and offers the software and hardware solutions needed for enterprises, governments, organizations, and individuals to securely transfer assets on the blockchain.
• CertiK: A blockchain security and code auditing agency that uses AI technology to protect and monitor blockchain protocols and smart contracts.
• Figment: A blockchain infrastructure and services provider that offers enterprise-grade node and staking infrastructure, Hubble Web 3 browser, and developer tools.
• Qredo: A crypto custody and settlement technology company that provides decentralized crypto custody protected by multi-party computation (MPC).
• QuickNode: A blockchain infrastructure company that provides node infrastructure and application programming interfaces (APIs) for developers.
• Ledger: A provider of crypto hardware wallets.
• Nova Labs: The developer behind the Helium blockchain. Helium is a decentralized wireless network.
• InfStones: A blockchain infrastructure provider that supports thousands of nodes across more than 50 public blockchains through its universal platform.

Financial Assets:

• Huobi: A cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2013.
• Gemini: A cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2014.
• Kraken: A cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2011.
• 2TM Group: A Brazilian crypto company, whose cryptocurrency exchange Mercado Bitcoin was established in 2013.
• Deribit: A cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform and the world's largest institutional-grade cryptocurrency options exchange.
• eToro: A social trading investment network that allows users to watch other users' financial trading activities, copy those activities, and conduct their own trades.
• Circle: The developer and issuer of the stablecoin USDC.
• Figure: A blockchain lending company that uses the Provenance blockchain for loan issuance, equity management, private fund services, banking, and payments.
• Ledn: A Canadian crypto lending platform.

Others:

• Blockworks: A news media and information platform that includes an editorial website, newsletters, podcasts, conferences, research, and data platforms.
• TRM Labs: A blockchain intelligence company that helps financial institutions, cryptocurrency companies, and government agencies detect and investigate financial crimes and fraud related to cryptocurrencies.